On Saturday, people in over 181 countries gathered in solidarity for the International Day of Climate Action. With nearly 5,200 events taking place around the world, most news sources credit it to be “the most widespread day of environmental action in history”.

The international day of climate action was coordinated by 350.org, an international campaign dedicated to resolving the climate crisis. 350 represents the amount of CO2 emissions that scientists have identified as the safe limit for our atmosphere—we are currently around 390.

The event in our nation’s capital began at Malcom X Park where performers and speakers, including Reverend Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus, Danish Ambassador to the U.S. Friss Peterson, and Mike Tidwell, the Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, spoke out on the crisis facing our environment and the need for action by our leaders. Despite the pouring rain, hundreds of people marched from Malcom X Park to Lafayette Park to show their support, declaring “Rain or Shine, Now’s the time, We got 350 on our mind”.

At Lafayette park, the hundreds to supporters rallied by forming a circle of hope with a banner signed by 1,200 students from across the country. While this began as a grassroots movement, the time has come to demand action by our leaders. As mentioned in the post below, a conference will take place in December in Copenhagen where world leaders will determine solutions to the climate crisis and hopefully craft a new global treaty. The next step is to make sure that President Obama attends the conference and is one of the leaders in resolving the current climate crisis.